Sugino also had some five bolt crank sets, I think they're out of production now.

Brad

I am a fan of a super wide range of gears. My current setup is 22-36-48 in front and 12-36 in the rear.

I count my lucky stars when, on a long steep climb, I find myself wanting to lower my gearing, and discover that I can. On the other hand, I don't think I ever ride in my highest gears. So if I had to choose, I would prefer to bias my lower gears at the expense of the higher.

On the other hand, I ride with friends who have opted for a narrower range of gears, and don't have super granny gears. (For example, the smallest chainring is 26 or 28). We all manage to get up the same hills together.

The bottom end of my previous two setups were 24:34 and 22:34 (instead of 22:36). I prefer the new setup.

I bought a 48/36/26 crankset, swapped the 26 for a 22, works great for me. If you're dropping the chain on the inside there's a item called "Deda dog fang" to stop that.

Deda Dog Fang Review

People should know that long cage derailleur chain capacity is 45T.

There are some crazy numbers here.

Gosh, 26-34 low seems pretty low to me. I recently finished a longish loaded tour with a 30-34 low (on an old 1981 Miyata with a six-speed freewheel). There were a few times when I would have appreciated your current 26-34 low, but I made out fine, and I'm not an especially strong rider.


Everyone is different, but I suggest that you ride the bike with its current gearing for a while before deciding you need to go lower. You might find that it's just fine as it is.